ARC features in UNEP's Tunza Magazine

The United Nations Environment Programme this month featured an article on ARC’s flagship programme with the Daoists in China – rebuilding a ruined temple in Shaanxi Province as both a temple and a centre for environmental education.

The article - in UNEP's Tunza magazine designed for young people - explains how Daoists believe that everything is composed of two opposing and interdependent energies, and that it is only when they are harmonised that the energy of life is created. From this basic belief, the Daoists in China have come to realise that they have a unique perspective on the human role in nature, giving them a potentially powerful role in educating the wider society on ecological matters.

The story, which can be downloaded here, also features ARC’s partners in Cambodia – the Association of Buddhists for the Environment, ABE, who are working to preserve forests by remembering that they are sacred – and the Greek Orthodox nuns of Solan in France, with whom ARC worked some years ago on establishing sustainable practices in their 10 hectare forest.

“All this suggests that faith and ecology can be as harmonious as yin and yang,” the writer says.

Tunza means "to treat with care or affection” in the Swahili language of Eastern Africa. In the UNEP context, the TUNZA concept is meant to develop activities in the areas of capacity building, environmental awareness, and information exchange. Its vision is to foster a generation of environmentally conscious citizens, capable of positive action.

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